"Parsely, sage, rosemary, and thyme...."

What is it about Lowe's lately that I can't seem to walk in there without walking out having bought some new living thing???? *L* Yesterday we went in for sandpaper and a water filter and left with two rose bushes, a pot of tarragon, and a pot of rosemary - but forgot the sandpaper! *LOL* I did get pics of the new roses and the new herbs and they've been added to the photo album site in the House Flowers album.

We took a good long look at Lucy (the bush I was growing from a cutting) and found that she wasn't rooting at all....absolutely nothing. In fact, she was drying up before our eyes. Luckily we saw her at Lowe's yesterday so...yep...back to Lowe's this morning. *G* Remembered the sandpaper this time and, of course, came away with a new Lucy. We found out that she is actually a Golden Euonymus and in the winter the golden edges of her leaves will turn red! She's a beauty and she had a nice dense root ball when I transplanted her so I'm hoping she'll grow like crazy. I'll have to keep her well pruned since I have her in a container - I'm going to try keeping her sort of round. We've discussed having Richard build another planter and maybe putting an azalea bush in it. I've loved azaleas ever since the house on Bedford Road.

I wasn't able to find any thyme but I'm still looking. I'd also like to grow some sage. That would give us a very nice basic selection of herbs to cook with. I've really gotten into fresh herbs thanks to the Food Network...especially Rachel Ray. She's annoying most of the time but she has some decent ideas and she almost always works with fresh herbs. I've become quite addicted to the taste in my foods anymore. *LOL*

And Aunt Cawnin...the sunflowers wouldn't do well in a container so we're deciding where we might like them in the yard. Once we pick a spot we'll have to check the drainage and such but our goal is to get them planted when we can!

I reckon that's about all for now. Just wanted to update everyone on the new plant babies. *L* Oh...and the yellow roses look like they're about to burst into bloom....once they do I'll get some photos.

"Where have all the flowers gone..."

Okay...finally got it done. I was going to put the pictures of the house flowers here on the blog but in my opinion there are a few too many for here. Anyways...I've put them into an album on our photo site:

http://no1shome.myphotoalbum.com

Just look in the album titled House Flowers and you can see pictures of all the gals and guys that are growing around here! Or at least....the leafy ones. *LOL*

Let me know what you think! Here's a little sneak peek! *G*

"Feelin' hot, hot, hot..."

Whew...yesterday was a scorcher...hot and humid and totally ICK. The kind that makes you feel queasy whenever you step out into it. Today we've got the "Oklahoma breeze" going though and the temps aren't quite as high. A MUCH more pleasant day! *L*

The flowers and plants are undecided about the weather right now. I got a cutting from a woman I work with, Starla, of a bush that she has in her yard. It has pretty little leaves that are yellowish-green with a thin dark green border and I named her Lucy....not sure why but the name seems to be perfect. Richard built a wooden planter for her and though she's kind of small right now, she seems to be quite happy in her new home. She's on the back patio just outside the sliding doors and I think when she grows her color will be beautiful against the brick of the house. Laura put her tomato plants out and I think we'll be 50/50 on those. The smaller plants seem to be getting a bit wilted but the larger ones are enjoying the sun. We also put several different kinds of flowers and leaves in two pots in the rock garden out front (where the lighthouses are). Those plants look like they're doing well so far - they get a break from the sun in the afternoon when it drops behind the house. And the pansies on the other side of the garage door are doing fantastic. They seem to just eat this warmth up and bloom like crazy. I'll see about getting some pictures and post them up for everyone to see. Now all I'll need is for my little gardener man on Lookout to plant his sunflowers again and I'll be a happy girl! *L* Still pretty envious of Pete and Linda's tulips though - I just can't seem to get tulips to grow for me. Linda's are gorgeous - she has them planted all along the fence on the side of her house and she has colors ranging from a deep butter yellow to a black-red. Pete also got some pretty lavender and pink ones to bloom this year. Some teenaged girls walking through the neighborhood picked a few of them and Linda wasn't too pleased with that but she's still got plenty of blooms.

Hmmm.....maybe I should have titled this post something with flowers....."I'll give you a daisy a day Dear, I'll give you a daisy a day...." *LOL* I'm out for now! SNOOTCHIES!!!!

"...That ol' wind had once again found it's way home."

Aunt Cawnin wrote, "Wish they would get these windmill things up and running so everyone can just pay a price yearly for the maintenance of them. Did anyone think of that?"

The Daily Oklahoman had a headline today: " T. Boone Pickens to import water, wind power to North Texas"

Boone is known around here as "Mr. OSU" - an alumni and staunch supporter of Oklahoma State University - their football stadium is named for him and he's invested more money in this state than God could count. He made several fortunes in the oil and gas industries and while this project, a 1.5 billion dollar investment of his money, is slated for Dallas and the surrounding areas, he has a history of trying things in Texas (lives in Dallas at the moment) then bringing them up to OK.

So Aunt Cawnin, your foresight is working overtime! *L* Boone agrees with you and is working to make those thoughts reality.

Another little tidbit I thought ya'll might find interesting!

"You can come back baby, rock 'n roll never forgets..."

Wow...it's been awhile since I posted anything...sorry folks! I'm going to try and get back into the swing of this blog, but I make no guarantees.

As for the title...well...rock 'n roll might never forget but apparently the economy does. I, however, REMEMBER when gas was affordable. *frown* Not sure about your neck of the woods but at this moment the Short Stop (it sells Conoco) is charging $3.39 a gallon for REGULAR UNLEADED!!! Can you believe it?? I'm sitting in a state that's sitting on top of a freakin' oil field and that's what we're paying. *shaking my head* I saw an editorial cartoon with an older couple reading the news about the "Economic Stimulus Rebate" that's coming and the gentleman asked..."So, what should we do with our rebate? Get the power turned back on, pay for our prescriptions, or get a tank of gas?" I swear it's that bad anymore. In my humble opinion, you can say what you want about Wal-Mart but as long as they keep offering $4.00 prescriptions for common generics they'll get my business!

And speaking of remembering...does anyone remember the weather being this screwy?? Since Spring has begun we've run the gamut out here. You need a coat one day, roast the next, get blown half way to Tulsa the next, and have to think about building an Ark the next. I know Spring is a changeable season but good golly! The other day the thermometer actually jumped almost 40 degrees in about 9 hours. It was 38 degrees when I left for work at 6:30 a.m. and it was 76 degrees when I walked out of the plant at 3:30 p.m. I'm channeling the parents but it's true...you don't know how to dress anymore. I've taken to wearing layers that I can peel away during the day like you have to do in Winter. By now we should be having cool but not COLD.

In the political arena I haven't backed a candidate yet but it's definitely NOT Hilary! And after today I'm quite glad about that. Such a large part of her platform is "Socialized Medicine" - free health care for everyone. It sounds extremely nice in theory but I got a lesson today in practice and ...well...maybe not. One of the guys at the plant, Clint Beagley, just got back from a business trip to Canada, he went to Toronto. Canada has free health care for everyone - government funded 100%. Again, the idea sounds good but in practice not so much. The people he was with got into a few conversations about the topic and he was surprised to find out some of the stuff Hilary and her compatriots never mention. There are a few private practitioners in Canada but they are so booked you can't even HOPE to get in to see them. Most of the health care is done in clinics and minor emergency centers. These are also so booked that you can't get an appointment for weeks. Anything even remotely considered "elective" has to be scheduled almost a year in advance. And the "free" in "free health care", of course, isn't. The cost of living is extremely high in Canada - to the point that it is the norm to have large numbers of people in one house. The guys he was speaking to (plant managers, superintendents, etc.) said that to have 20 people living together in a house is nothing to them. Now these people are most often families...usually several generations of the same families...but still!! Geez...when we were growing up there were 9 of us, 11 with Bobby and Louie, and we barely all fit! Anyways, where I was going with the cost of living thing is that the income tax in Canada is outrageous...but the salaries aren't much different from here in the States. And it's the income tax that pays for the health care. So not only are you still paying for YOUR health care every time you go to work, but you're also paying for those who don't work. And if they need more money for health care...yep...taxes go up. Clint also mentioned that there is a very large population of homeless people in Toronto. Sorry if I bored you with all of that...I found it very interesting talking to him today!

Oh, but they did have one thing that was kind of cool...this should make you smile Suzie-Q! *L* While they don't allow hanging there (I don't think) - if someone commits a crime and then skies out into the woods - they just post a bounty on the person and somebody brings him or her in lickety split. *LOL* Clint enjoyed that little fact. Apparently some guy murdered a woman up there and headed into the wilderness to not get caught. Nope. Some other guy got his hunting dogs out and tracked the culprit down in, like, 3 days. Clint was so amazed it made me crack up.

So....back to the song....Sweet 16 has actually turned 44 but I haven't forgotten everything...yet! *LOL* Bye for now!